In America, where labor（劳工）costs are so high, “do-it-yourself” is a way of life．Many people   46   their own cars, build their own garages, and even rebuild their own houses．

  47   many of them will also write their own books. In Hollywood there is a   48   that publishes（出版）children’s books with the help of computers．  49   other book companies also publish that way, this company is not like the others．It   50   the reader to become the main character（人物）with the help of computers．Here is   51   they do it．Let us suppose a child is named Jody．The computer uses this information to make up a story   52   pictures．The story is then printed up．“This book is about me,” a child who   53   such a book might say．So the company is called the “Me-Books Publishing Company”．  54   like me-books because they like to see in print their own names, their pictures, the names of their friends and their pets．But more   55  , in this way, readers are much more interested in reading the stories．Me-books are helping children to learn how to read．

（    ）46．A．make               B．build                C．buy                       D．repair

（    ）47．A．Otherwise      B．Only              C．Once                  D．Soon

（    ）48．A．director        B．person           C．company              D．computer

（    ）49．A．However         B．Although        C．That                  D．Unless

（    ）50．A．allows          B．hates            C．hires（雇）          D．pays

（    ）51．A．what            B．how             C．why                     D．where

（    ）52．A．with            B．about            C．for                         D．except

（    ）53．A．prints（印）    B．borrows        C．sells                     D．receives

（    ）54．A．Writers        B．Children          C．Companies            D．Friends

（    ）55．A．impossible       B．interesting        C．important              D．expensive

　　Why is 2004 a special year? Because it is a Leap Year（闰年）! What's so special about that? Well, Leap Year happens only once every four years. And it has 366 days instead of the usual 365. In a Leap Year, we have 29 days in February, while in a usual year we have only 28 days.

　　Why do we have a Leap Year? We have a Leap Year so we can keep the calendar（日历）in step with the seasons. The calendar is a kind of clock for the whole year. But how long is a year? A calendar year is 365 days. However, a true year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds long. That's the time it takes the earth to travel around the sun. So every four years we have one more day, and we put it at the end of February, the shortest month of a year. Then we have a Leap Year.

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A．There were 29 days in February. 1992.

B．Usually we have 365 days ill a year.

C．People who were born on February 29th are very lucky because they can have more birthdays than others.

D．The next Leap Year will be the year 2008.

I sat down to read under an old tree in the park. I felt my life was   36  , because my whole world was dark.

A young   37   ran up to me, out of breath（气喘吁吁）. He stood right before me with his head down and said   38  , “Look what I found!” In his hand was a flower, and what a poor sight! The flower was dry and   39 . I gave him a small smile and then turned my eyes away so that he could take his dry flower and go off to play.

  40 , he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his   41  and said in surprise, “It smells sweet and it’s beautiful, too. That’s   42  I picked it. Here, it’s for you.” The flower before me was dead. But I knew I must   43  it, or he might never leave. So I accepted(接受) the flower, and replied, “This is just what I   44 .” Just then, for the first time I noticed that the boy could not   45 －he was blind.

Tears came down my face as I   46  him for picking the best one. “You’re welcome.” he smiled, and then ran off  to  47 . I sat there and wondered how he was able to learn about my pain.

Through the eyes of a blind child,   48  I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all those years I myself had been   49 . I decided to see the beauty in life, and   50  every second of my life. And then I held that dry flower up to my nose and breathed in the smell of a beautiful rose.

With a hat by his feet, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He held up a sign which said, “I’m blind, please help.”

Only a few people put   36  in the hat. A man was walking by. He   37  some coins into the hat. He then turned the sign   38 , wrote some words, put the sign back and left.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people   39  to give money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man came to see   40  things were. The boy recognized his footsteps （认出他的脚步声）and asked, “Were you the one who   41  my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a   42  way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day,   43 I cannot see it.”

Both the   44  told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply   45  people to help by throwing some money into the   46 . The second one, however, told people that they were able to enjoy the   47  of the day, but the boy couldn’t   48  he was blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn   49  this story. First, be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help them if you can.   50  , be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!